Galaxy Quest

A satiric and yet affectionate look at science fiction television fandom served on a bed of interstellar action adventure is the recipe for the 1999 movie Galaxy Quest.

As the movie opens, the cult television show "Galaxy Quest" has been off the air for 18 years. The cast, typecast by their roles in the cheesy sci-fi series, derive most of their income and their exposure at science fiction conventions. Gwen DeMarco (Sigourney Weaver) resents the bimbo aspects of her character Lt. Tawny Madison. Alexander Dane (Alan Rickman) can't forget he's a classical actor and has nothing but contempt for the fans' worship of his character the alien Dr. Lazarus. But the show's star, selfish egotist Jason Nesmith (Tim Allen) revels in the attention and adoration showered on his character Commander Peter Quincy Taggart.

The Galaxy Quest convention is familiar to any fan of cult television. There are the costumes, the technogeeks debating the star-drives, and the fans who know far more about the plots and characters than the stars do. Introducing the crew at the convention is fan Guy Fleegman (Sam Rockwell), who glories in the memory of his bit part in one episode as Crewman Number Six.

So when the Thermians show up dressed as crewmembers of the Galaxy Quest starship the USEA Protector, Nesmith believes they are just more obsessed fans. But no, they're telling the truth, they really are aliens from another planet.

Thermians always tell the truth; lying is a baffling concept to them. So when they received transmissions of the old Galaxy Quest show, they took them to be 'historical documents'. So inspiring was the show that they patterned their entire culture on it and created an exact replica of the Protector.

But now the Thermians are facing a enemy that's out of their league, the evil warlord Sarris. They know just where to turn for help - to Commander Taggart and the stalwart crew of the original Protector.

Through a series of misunderstandings and misadventures, the group of actors find themselves on an actual starship in outer space, reprising their roles as if their lives depended on it - because indeed they do.

You don't have to be a Star Trek fan to enjoy Galaxy Quest, but it helps, because the parallels are everywhere, right down to Tim Allen's spot-on renditions of William Shatner's acting tics. When I saw this movie in a theater, the audience cracked up simply at the sight of Allen seating himself in the command chair, his take on Shatner's 'command slouch' was just that good.

The predicaments are familiar to fans of sci-fi television, as well - the need to repair the ship without the necessary materials, the unarmed combat against a rock monster, the evil warlord determined to get his hands on a doomsday device, it's all there.

The sunny optimism of the Roddenberry vision is here as well, as the group of squabbling actors who don't even like each other come together as a crew, discover their inner heroes, and save the day.

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